I was hoping someone could tell me what the actual difference between the two kinds of 3M open coat sandpaper are.

At most places I see 3M’s “Sand Blaster” line of papers. I think that’s their consumer brand name for standard issue open coat, stearated sandpaper. I believe others know it as “fre cut”. I’ve been using it for years. The claim is it lasts 3 times longer than standard paper.

Now I’m seeing something they call “Sandblaster Advanced”. It costs a little more and the color are different. The claim is that it lasts 7 times longer than standard paper. It costs a bit more than the “regular” Sand Blaster.

The only difference I was able to detect was that the “Advanced” stuff had a sticky backing (which does come in handy on some occasions). However, now I see that the regular Sandblaster stuff has the sticky backing as well.

Does anyone what, if any, practical difference there is between these two products?

P.S. On a related note I noticed that they are now claiming their standard issue sandpaper (not stearate, not open coat) “lasts 3X longer then conventional sandpaper.” Which is the same claim made for the regular “Sandblaster” line of papers. So now the standard issue paper lasts 3 times longer than itself?

3M has and engineering department that designs these papers. Call them and ask these questions. I have found their adhesive department to be very friendly and open to questions and suggestions. They can recommend different kinds of paper for your needs then you could try these and experiment with them. I personally believe there are variances because you have different woods and they are grown in different parts of the country in different soils. This makes all walnut not created equal if you get my drift. I would begin by calling 3M and discussing this with them.

Owning a professional shop, I can’t tell you how many sales people come in and out the door, selling all kinds of this will last longer, this won’t clog, etc. etc… Right now what we are happiest with in the compromise between cost and performance, is Norton and the best provider IMO is St. Paul Abrasives.

A while back I tried the shopsmith ROS paper at lowes and was very impressed with the way it lasted and how well it sanded. On the job I used some Diablo paper form The BORG and it was also very good stuff. it seemed to last a long time considering we were sanding on painted material and on bondo. I love the Norton 3X but I can’t get it in stores around here.

I’ve used the Shopsmith sanding discs (40 grit and 320 grit specifically) and I liked it too. The 40 grit paper lasted longer than I expected. Anytime I’ve tried sandpaper sheets below 60 grit I’ve found that the abrasive particles come off pretty quickly and essentially make the paper worthless.

I generally use Diablo sanding discs because I can get those easily at Home Depot. They work fine. I’ve also used Norton discs and 3M discs. They perform on part with the Diablo discs. I’ve also used Abranet discs and I like them. I don’t think they really last longer than other discs. But they do seem to cut faster and dust collection is excellent.

One possibly interesting note about the “Sandblaster Pro/Sandblaster Advanced” paper is that it says when the sticky backing gets too dusty you can rinse it with water to bring back the sticky. This implies that all the Sandblaster “Advanced” paper is water proof. I haven’t tested this hypothesis. I think the paper itself on the Advanced stuff is a bit thicker than the normal stuff. Otherwise I haven’t seen any difference between the advanced stuff and the regular Sandblaster paper.